A city besieged ponders closures

Large swaths of Baltimore could be declared emergency areas subject to heightened police enforcement -- including a lockdown of streets -- under a city councilman’s proposal that aims to slow the city’s climbing homicide count.

The legislation, which met with lukewarm response from Mayor Sheila Dixon’s administration Wednesday -- and which others likened to martial law -- would allow police to close liquor stores and bars, limit the number of people on city sidewalks and halt traffic in areas declared “public safety act zones.” It comes as the number of homicides in Baltimore reached 108, up from 98 the same time last year.

“Desperate measures are needed when we’re in desperate situations,” said City Council Vice President Robert W. Curran, the bill’s author. “What I’m trying to do is give the mayor additional tools.”

By introducing the legislation, Curran -- who is an ally of Dixon -- is promoting increased enforcement at a time when City Hall is moving in the opposite direction, shifting away from zero tolerance and toward an approach that focuses more attention on individual criminals. Dixon has sought to ease tension between police and residents who feel the city’s past arrest policies were overzealous.

In addition to closing businesses in the zones, the bill would permit police to limit the number of people who could gather on sidewalks, in streets or in other outdoor areas. It would prohibit the sale and possession of weapons, though Curran acknowledged that weapons used by criminals are almost always already obtained illegally. Zones could be established solely by the mayor, initially for a two-week period, with the option to renew indefinitely.

Provisions of the bill are identical to a law in Philadelphia that recently gained attention when a mayoral candidate and former city councilman proposed relying more aggressively on the code. That candidate, Michael Nutter, won the Democratic nomination for mayor Tuesday.

Echoing an element of Nutter’s campaign platform, Curran said police would be encouraged to do “very aggressive and constitutional” frisking of individuals for weapons in the zones. That practice has been under scrutiny since a 2005 report found the department lost track of how many times it pats people down.

Curran’s proposal, which he said he would introduce in the City Council on Monday, is also likely to raise questions by civil libertarians.

Philadelphia’s law allows the city to impose a curfew in the emergency zones, but Curran said he removed that provision from his bill because it seemed too strict.